Psychosocial Counselling and its Influence on Student Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in the North-West and South-West Regions of Cameroon

The study sought to examine the influence of psychosocial counselling on student discipline in public secondary schools in the North-West and South-West Regions of Cameroon. The study specifically intended: To explore the extent to which mental health support influences student discipline. The researcher used mixed methods with specifically the sequential explanatory research design. A questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide were used to gather the data. The researcher used multi-stage sampling procedure to select 330 students. The purposive and expert sampling techniques were used to select 27 guidance counselors for the interview. The instruments were validated with content validity index (CVI) of 0.75 and reliability checks through split-half technique with a Cronbach’s coefficient of 0.805. Data from questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive statistics of observed frequencies, percentages, sum, mean scores and standard deviations to answer the research questions. Data from the interview were interpreted through thematic, narrative and direct quotes to corroborate the findings from the questionnaire. Hypotheses were analyzed using the t-test to further test the level of significance of the influence between the variables. The study revealed that: Mental health support (mean difference = +0.297; Cohen’s d = 0.701, indicating a medium-to-large effect size) is perceived as a foundational pedagogical tool for student discipline. It was recommended that: Adoption and innovation in psychosocial counselling (mental health support) should stay abreast with new knowledge and trends in methods, strategies and technologies to accommodate student diverse disciplinary issues.